High school science students send Devin Booker to space on a weather balloon

By Haboob Blog | April 11, 2017 at 3:59 pmUPDATED: April 11, 2017 at 4:22 pm

How much of a star is Devin Booker in just his second NBA season, before his 21st birthday?

Booker scored 70 points in a game, so that helps the resume. Now, he’s literally visited the stars.

Sort of.

The likeness of the Phoenix Suns guard took a trip to the tip-top of Earth’s atmosphere on March 31 when a group of Pinnacle High School science students attached a picture of Booker to a weather balloon.

The image was a nice little tip of the cap to the Suns for allowing the science students the opportunity to learn.

Teacher Mike Vargas’ Near Space Team won a $2,500 grant from Arizona Public Service and the Suns to send a balloon to 97,000 feet high. Outfitted with a camera and other instruments to measure things that one might measure in the atmosphere, the instrument casing attached to the balloon fittingly was painted as a basketball.

The balloon reached a cruising speed of 60 mph and at its apex, the camera caught Booker overlooking the curve of the planet before he and the balloon fell back down to earth.